Dispensing container



Jan. 9, 1962 H. MERKEL DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed Oct. 27, 1958 INVENTORHans Her/ y M .(3 414 United States Patent 3,016,170 DISPENSINGCONTAINER Hans Merkel, Frickenhauserstr. 12, Nurtingen, Germany FiledOct. 27, 1958, Ser. No. 769,885 Claims priority, application GermanyOct. 31, 1957 4 Claims. (Cl. 222-425) The invention relates to adispensing container, and more particularly to a container fordispensing measured amounts of a free-flowing solid material, such as agranular or powdered solid.

It is an object of the invention to provide a container which permitsrepeated dispensing of reproducible amounts of a free-flowing solidmaterial.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such a dispensingcontainer which is suitable for being carried in a pocket of a piece ofclothing or the like.

Yet another object is the provision of such a container which has asubstantially smooth outer wall without projecting portions which maysnag portions of such a piece of clothing.

A further object of the invention is the provision of such a containerwhich may be carried in any desired position without releasing thecontents thereof.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of 'a containersuitable for dispensing material intended for human consumption such asmedicine, spices, or other materials to be added to food or drink inmultiples of an equal amount.

Lastly, it is an object of the'invention to provide such a containerwhich is very inexpensive to manufacture so as to permit discarding ofthe container when the contents have been dispensed.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this inventionwill be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood byreference to the following detailed description when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which like referencenumerals designate like parts throughout the figures thereof, andwherein:

FIG. 1 shows a front elevation of a preferred embodiment of thedispensing container of the invention with the front wall removed, thecontainer being in the closed position,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the container of FIG. 1 inthe open position,

FIG. 3 is a top view of the container of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the dispensing container ofFIG. 1, in partly disassembled condition,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation similar to FIG. 4, but in theassembled condition,

FIG. 6 shows a sectional front elevation of another embodiment of thecontainer of the invention, and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a detail of the embodiment of FIG. 6.

In its more specific aspects, the invention contemplates the use of areceptacle means for holding a free-flowing solid material, and ofmeasuring means arranged in the receptacle means along a wall thereof.The measuring means has a substantially V-shaped cross section, the twolegs of the V-shape constituting a dispensing and a receivingcompartment, respectively, the compartments being partly separated bypartition means and communicating with each other at the apex of theV-shape. The free end of the dispensing compartment is located adjacentan end of the wall and the wall is movable so as to open and close thefree end. The free end of the receiving compartment communicates withthe interior of the receptacle means at a point adjacent theafore-mentioned wall.

According to a preferred feature of the invention, the

measuring means is arranged in a corner of the receptacle 3,016,170Patented Jan. 9, 1962 means and the movement of the movable wall islimited in such a manner that the opening formed by movement of themovable wall communicates with the interior of the receptacle means onlythrough the dispensing compartment.

Referring now to the drawing and more particularly to FIG. 1, there isshown in front elevation a preferred embodiment of the dispensingcontainer of the invention with the front wall removed so as to reveal arectangular storage compartment 1. A measuring container 2 is arrangedin a corner of storage compartment 1. A vertical partition 3 extendsfrom the rear wall of the com partment 1 into measuring container 2 andover the entire width thereof toward the front wall so as to divide themeasuring container into two communicating compartments, a compartment4, which will henceforth be referred to as the receiving compartment,and a compartment 5, to be referred to as the dispensing compartment.The top wall of storage compartment 1 is slidably movable in alongitudinal direction so as to form a cover 6 adapted to close anopening 7 by which dispensing compartment 5 may communicate with theoutside of the dispensing container. A stop 9 provided on the undersideof cover 6 limits movement thereof in such a manner that the openingformed by such movement of cover 6 communicates with the interior of thecontainer only through dispensing compartment 5 when stop 9 abutsagainst a wall of the container.

As shown in FIG. 2, stop 9 abuts against a wall of the container whenthe edge of cover 6 adjacent opening 7 is substantially aligned and incontact with the top edge of partition 3. A closure member 13substantially similar and parallel to partition 3 is fastened to cover 6in such a manner as toseparate receiving compartment 4 from storagecompartment 1 when cover 6 is in the closed position, and to open apassage between receiving compartment 4 and storage compartment 1 whencover .6 is in the open position. Cover 6 is slidably guided in a groove8 extending along the top of the rear wall of the dispensing containerand in corresponding grooves along the top of the front wall not shownin FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 3 which represents a top view of the container of FIGS. 1 and 2,shows the cover 6 in the open position. To facilitate handling, thecover is provided with a corrugated surface portion 10 and a depression11. An arrow 12 indicates the direction of opening movement of cover 6.FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate details of construction of the dispensingcontainer of the invention which is preferably made from plasticalthough it will be understood that the invention is not limited to anyspecific material of construction or method of forming or assembling thecontainer.

There is shown in FIG. 4 a side wall 14 having a portion 16 of reducedthickness extending toward the front wall of the container. The frontwall is formed with a transverse edge portion 15 of a width equal tothat of side wall portion 16 and of a thickness such that the combinedthickness of edge portion 15 and side wall portion 16 is substantiallyequal to that of side wall 14. Edge portion 15 is so dimensioned that itmay he slipped over the reduced portion 16 of side wall 14 and overcorresponding reduced portions of the other walls of the container so asto envelop them so that the edge portion of the front wall may readilybe cemented or otherwise fastened to the other walls of the container toform a tight seal. The assembled container with the front wall in placeand edge portion 15 superimposed on the reduced portion of side wall 14is illustrated in FIG. 5. The grooves 8 and 8 respectively provided inthe top portions of the front and rear walls for guiding slidingmovement .of cover 6 are also shown in FIG. 5.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, themeasuring container 2 forms an integral unit and the receivingcompartment 4 and dispensing compartment 5 are preformed before assemblyof the measuring unit 2 with the other elements of the dispensingcontainer.

As best seen in FIG. 7, the measuring container 2 comprises a wallelement 20 of Y-shaped section having the same width as the width of thecontainer between the front and rear walls thereof. Side walls 19 extendperpendicularly from wall element 20 and hold between them an integralpartition member 3 of approximately V-shaped cross section which isarranged between the two branches of the Y of wall element 20 so as todefine therewith the receiving compartment 4 and dispensing compartment5. The measuring container illustrated in FIG. 7 may be mounted with itsWall element 20 against one of the side walls 17 of a molded containerintegrally formed with its bottom 18, for example, from plasticmaterial. A cover 6 is slidably arranged in a transverse groove 8extending across the tops of the back and front Wall and one of the sidewalls 17 of the container. Cover 6 is movable so as to expose theopening 7 of dispensing compartment 5, and is prevented from movingbeyond such a position by abutment means 9 fastened to the underside ofthe cover for engagement with one of the side walls 17 when the frontedge of cover 6 is aligned with the top edge of partition member 3 alongwhich the cover 6 is slidable. The rear edge of cover 6 is transverselybent so as to form a gripping handle 11' for convenient operation. Thegripping handle 11 extends transversely from the rear edge of cover 6 tosuch an extent that it is substantially flush with the top edges of thefront and rear wall in the closed position of cover 6 so that in theclosed position of the container it presents a substantially smoothouter wall without projecting portions which may snag portions of apiece of clothing in the pocket of which the container is kept.

The mode of operation of the afore-described embodiments of theinvention is readily apparent from the structure thereof. The storagecompartment 1 of the container is filled with the powdery, granular orotherwise relatively free-flowing solid material which is desired to bedispensed in reproducible amounts, and the front cover is attached. Thecover 6 is moved to the open position as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and thecontainer is inverted with the opening 7 directed downward. A portion ofthe material contained in storage compartment 1 flows through thepassage formed between closure member 13 and the fixed wall of receivingcompartment 4 so that compartment 4' receives a certain amount ofmaterial. Because of the appreciable frictional forces set up betweenthe particles of even relatively free-flowing solids none of thematerial will spill over the edge of partition 3 into dispensingcompartment 5, and the height of the passage formed between thecompartments 4 and 5 along the free edge of partition 3 can readily beselected so as to adapt the container to any desired solid material.

The dispensing container is now inverted so that a portion of the solidmaterial in the space defined by partition 3, cover 6 and closure member13 will drop back into storage compartment 1, and another portion willdrop into the passage connecting compartments 4 and 5. Cover 6 now isclosed so as to separate the amount of material contained in themeasuring container 2 from the main body of material held in storagecompartment 1. The dispensing container may now be tilted or otherwisemoved in any manner without any of the material in measuring container 2returning to the compartment 1 or material from storage compartment 1being added to that held in the measuring container 2.

When the cover 6 is opened and the dispensing container is moved from aposition in which opening 7 is directed upward to a position in whichthe opening '7 is directed downward, the material held in measuringcontainer 2 is discharged through opening 7 and a new amount of materialenters the space between cover 6, partition 3 and closure 13, whereuponthe next cycle of operation may start.

If the tilting movement for inversion of the dispensing container isperformed in an approximately equal way during successive cycles, theamount of material dispensed through opening 7 is closely similar orsubstantially identical. It i influenced only to a very minor extent bythe amount of material contained in storage compartment 1 since thestatic pressure of the material is largely cancelled by the frictionalforces within the material.

The device illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 operates in a mannersubstantially analogous to the operation of the device of FIGS. 1-5.Because of the absence of a closure member capable of separating thereceiving compartment 4 from the storage compartment 1, it is necessaryto fill the receiving compartment 4 to a reproducible extent by titlingthe container forward, then backward before discharging an amount ofmaterial from dispensing compartment 5, if it is desired to dispensesubstantially equal amounts in successive operations, and if thedispensing container is moved between discharging step in such a mannerthat material may flow between receiving compartment 4 and storagecompartment 1 in either direction.

While molded o-r cemented plastic containers have been described aspreferred embodiments of the invention, and while such containers havebeen described as being equipped with sliding covers; it will beappreciated that othermaterials of construction may be employed and thatthe invention is not limited to a sliding cover nor to any specificstructural feature used 'in the illustrative examples. It is entirelywithin the scope of the invention to employ, for example, a rotary coverinstead of a slidable one, and the necessary modifications of thestructure of the invention will readily present themselves to thoseskilled in the art.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied indispensing containers, it is not intended to be limited to the detailsshown, since various modifications and structural changes may be madewithout departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A dispensing container for dispensing measured amounts of afree-flowing solid material, comprising, in combination, receptaclemeans including a hollow body having an opening at one end, a coverplate mounted on said body for sliding movement between a closingposition closing said opening and a discharge position defining adischarge opening in said receptacle means, said receptacle means havinga dispensing position in which said cover plate forms the bottom of saidreceptacle means and a reversed position in which said cover plate islocated on top of said receptacle means; said body having an inner wallhaving one end located opposite said discharge opening and another endlocated opposite said cover plate spaced from the same to form a passagewith the same, and a partitioning wall located adjacent said dischargeopening, being in sliding contact with said cover plate,- and extendingfrom the same toward said inner wall and defining with the same adispensing compartment located on one side of said partitioning wall andcommunicating with said discharge opening; and a closure plate fixedlysecured to said cover plate for movement with the same and projectingfrom the same into said hollow body, said closure plate closing saidpassage in said closing position of said cover plate and being spacedfrom said other end of said inner wall in said discharge position ofsaid cover plate so that only in said discharge position of said coverplate material located in the interior of said hollow body accumulatesin said dispensing position of said" receptacle means between the otherside of said partitioning wall and said closure plate on said coverplate so that a thus-accumulated quantity of material falls onto saidinner wall in said reversed position of said receptacle means whereby ameasured quantity of the material falls in said dispensing positionthrough said discharge opening if said cover plate is in said dischargeposition.

2. A container as set forth in claim 1, wherein said closure plate isperpendicular to said cover plate.

3. A container as set forth in claim 1 and including stop means forstopping said cover plate in said discharge position with one edgeofsaid cover plate located on said partitioning wall.

4. A container asset forth in claim 1, wherein said hollow body has twoparallel main walls, two side walls, and one end wall; wherein saiddischarge opening is located adjacent one side wall and extends betweensaid main walls; wherein said inner wall and said partitioning wallconnect the inner surfaces of said main walls; and wherein said closureplate has a pair of edges slidably and tightly contacting said innersurfaces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS DuellNov. 19, 1935

